ATHLETES have had a wide variety of events recently. Saturday, September 12 saw Dan Upton out on the field at the Leamington Open where he had a great day and competed in the shot-put. A distance of 13.54m gained him a club record, followed by 36.94m in the discus.

The following Saturday saw Ken Harker and Joseph Reeve take to the track for the Tynedale Open in Hexham. Ken completed the 1,500m in five minutes, two seconds and Joe completed the same distance in four minutes, 34 seconds.

On the same day, Kimberley Reeve and Rachel Ross Russell tackled the Hardmoors 60 ultra marathon. The race starts in Guisborough and follows the Cleveland Way, finishing 63 miles south in Filey. Kim finished in a time of 16 hours 54 minutes and Rachel in 13 hours 24 minutes, placing her seventh female and first V50.

Down in South Yorkshire on September 20, Dan Upton was competing in the ‘Run Jump Throw’ event in Doncaster. As usual, Dan had an amazing day with firsts in the shot-put with 12.37m and in discus in 38.56m, and 36.11m in the hammer and weight 9.91m.

Ken and Joseph were back out competing on Saturday, September 26 at the ‘Back to Track’ event hosted by Darlington Harriers. The cold and wet weather conditions didn’t deter them from recording fantastic times over the 800m distance – Ken two minutes 31 seconds and Joseph two minutes 14 seconds. The red vests were back on the following day as Ken and Joseph took part in the Morpeth open track and field meet, incorporating the North Eastern 3,000m masters champs. Joseph, who is running very consistently at the moment, finished second in the 800m in two minutes ten seconds. Ken clocked ten minutes 47 seconds over the 3,000m distance, which gave him third place and a bronze medal.

Sam Jenkins took part in another ultra marathon on Saturday, September 26, the Reservoir Dogs in Otley. Sam completed the 45k distance in five hours, four minutes, gaining third place.

The following Sunday saw several athletes head out to Castle Bolton for the Moors and Dales ‘Falls & Castle’ race. The scenic trail race has two distances to choose from – seven or 18 miles.

The seven mile race starts at the castle before heading out to Carperby, Aysgarth and finishes with the brutal hill back to the castle. Fast times were recorded by John Gray in 48 minutes 49 seconds, placing him fourth overall and first V40, next home was Ronnie Corbett in 48 minutes 55 seconds, fifth place overall and first V50, Nicki Buckett finished in 47th place in one hour eight minutes.

The 18 mile route, which heads out to the furthest point of Askrigg before heading back via Aysgarth Falls, was tackled by Paul Simpson and Jenny Jakeman. Paul had a great run finishing in two hours 20 minutes, placing him sixth overall and second V40 and Jenny was fifth female and third in her age category with a time of two hours, 52 minutes.

Further information on the club and training nights can be found on the website www.richmondzetlandharriers.co.uk